TED Blog » Ray Anderson

Ray Anderson’s radical confessions: Read an excerpt

tedblogguest — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Ray Anderson (watch his TEDTalk), the chairman and founder of carpet company Interface Inc., is part of a new industrial revolution: one that demands ecological awareness. Simply conforming to government regulations didn’t satisfy Anderson, who has made the march toward total sustainability an integral part of his company’s customer appeal. For Interface, being “green” is not just a trend or a term, it’s a serious way to curb production costs and make quality flooring.

In 1995 Anderson challenged himself and his employees to hold Interface to the highest ecological standards possible: “to take nothing from the Earth that can’t be replaced by the earth.” Interface proudly promotes its Mission Zero — the company’s goal of achieving total sustainability by the year 2020. This mountain of a task is the subject of Anderson’s new book, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist. In it, he chronicles the thought process leading to this radical innovation, the opposition faced, and how the results have (so far) validated this turn. The book is a guide for entrepreneurs who are looking for new models of production (especially ones with environmentally friendly attitudes) in a market that’s always reinventing itself.

Interface’s journey is far from over, and Anderson knows this. While he admits that promoting Mission Zero may have given Interface an edge in the market, he still wants to see more companies join the cause. One of his most persuasive techniques are the amazing statistics he drops; such as that since 2003, Interface has “manufactured and sold over 83 million square yards of carpet with no net global-warming effect.”

Anderson’s business perspective comes through in every paragraph; his concern for the planet’s well-being pulses through the page. Ever the optimist, he insists the human species can find a way to be productive and not destructive. The only thing inhibiting this is our own apprehension to hold ourselves to such high standards. This leads to Anderson’s ultimate message: Sticking with the status quo is no longer an option, and we must learn to truly maintain the finite resources we’re lucky to still have.

Read an excerpt from Chapter Two of Confessions of a Radical Industrialist, called “The Power of One Good Question,” which describes the impetus for Interface’s trek up Mount Sustainability. Download the excerpt >>

The business logic of sustainability: Ray Anderson on TED.com

tedstaff — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:00:00 +0000

At his carpet company, Interface, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional “take / make / waste” industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares his powerful vision for sustainable commerce. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 15:55.)

Watch Ray Anderson’s talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 400+ TEDTalks.

Get TED delivered:
Subscribe to the TEDTalks video podcast via RSS >>
Subscribe to the iTunes video podcast
Subscribe to the iTunes audio podcast
Get updates via Twitter >>
Join our Facebook fan page >>

Subscribe to the TED Blog >>

KPCC's Patt Morrison broadcasts from TED

Emily McManus — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:23:43 +0000

Legendary interviewer Patt Morrison ran a two-hour broadcast from TED today, pulling in a raft of TED speakers and TEDsters, including two of the 2009 TED Prize winners. In four segments, she asked some amazing questions and started up some cross-pollinating discussions: Shai Agassi and Ray Anderson discussing the green revolution; Alex Tabarrok and Robin Williams on economics (Alex’s specialty) and jokes (Robin’s); Nicholas Negroponte and Yves Behar (shown above during their interview) on design with a mission and the next $100 laptop; and the TED Prize, with Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute and Sylvia Earle, oceanographer.

The broadcast is available as a podcast right here — look for the February 6 show.

Tomorrow's Child — as read by Ray Anderson

mirandawulf — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:48:28 +0000

Ray Anderson gave a profound and powerful talk about his decades-deep commitment to sustainable ways of doing business through his carpet company Interface — culminating in the Mission Zero plan.

During the talk he read a poem written by one of his employees, Glenn Thomas, after Glenn heard Ray talk. Having received a number of emails asking for the text of that poem, here it is:

Tomorrow’s Child
© Glenn Thomas
Without a name; an unseen face
and knowing not your time nor place
Tomorrow’s Child, though yet unborn,
I met you first last Tuesday morn.

A wise friend introduced us two,
and through his sobering point of view
I saw a day that you would see;
a day for you, but not for me

Knowing you has changed my thinking,
for I never had an inkling
That perhaps the things I do
might someday, somehow, threaten you

Tomorrow’s Child, my daughter-son
I’m afraid I’ve just begun
To think of you and of your good,
Though always having known I should.

Begin I will to weigh the cost
of what I squander; what is lost
If ever I forget that you
will someday come to live here too.

Photo: TED / James Duncan Davidson